A renovated surf motel just outside of Byron Bay has beaten a luxury $3880US per night Maldives resort to claim runner-up in the Mr and Mrs Smith awards.

The beachy-chic Halcyon House has been turning heads since launching earlier this year, with a white besser-brick exterior and fresh nautical interiors curstory of Brisbane design doyenne Anna Spiro.

The on-site restaurant, Paper Daisy, is run by delicious. next-gen chef Ben Devlin and has already scooped some national awards. If you need to burn off your feast, you can book a surf lesson through the hotel with Australian pro Joel Parkinson. There’s also a beach concierege to run snacks right down to the sand for you.

 The Pig – on the Beach, on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, in London took out Best Smith Hotel 2015. Halcyon was the only Australian winner, but Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley was joint runner-up in the Best for Families category.